http://www.v7n.com/forums/ Discuss online internet legal issues and topics including but not limited to copyright, trademarks, patents, slander, internet laws, etc. en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:21:25 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.v7n.com/forums/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.v7n.com/forums/ http://www.v7n.com/forums/legal-issues/157193-free-flash-games-where-do-they-come.html Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:44:21 GMT I see many websites that have hundreds, sometimes thousands, of flash games to play online for... I see many websites that have hundreds, sometimes thousands, of flash games to play online for free.

Does anyone know where they come from? How they are licensed? Are they clean or dirty (from an IP point of view)?

thanks, ]]> Internet Legal Issues johnegood http://www.v7n.com/forums/legal-issues/157193-free-flash-games-where-do-they-come.html http://www.v7n.com/forums/legal-issues/157006-illegal-use-someone-elses-paypal-account.html Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:20:49 GMT I live in the Caribbean and I have a Paypal account. Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to receive payments with my Paypal account. In the past, I've used my mom's Paypal account (she lives in the USA). Is it fraudulent to use my mom's Paypal account to accept an online payment? Squidoo's FAQs suggests using a friend's Paypal account to accept payments if you don't have one of your own.

Secondly, if I accept a payment in my mom's account, will the IRS hunt her down and make her pay taxes on money in the Paypal account?

Thanks to anyone who can help! ]]> Internet Legal Issues TanjaPetro http://www.v7n.com/forums/legal-issues/157006-illegal-use-someone-elses-paypal-account.html http://www.v7n.com/forums/legal-issues/156999-can-law-keep-up-technology.html Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:49:49 GMT In a case that would have been impossible even five years ago, bad-girl rocker Courtney Love is... In a case that would have been impossible even five years ago, bad-girl rocker Courtney Love is being sued for libel by a fashion designer for allegedly slamming the woman on Twitter.

The suit claims that after a disagreement over what Love should pay Dawn Simorangkir for the clothes she designed, Love posted allegedly derogatory and false comments about the designer -- among them that she had a "history of dealing cocaine" -- on her now-discontinued Twitter feed.

But as technology evolves faster than the laws that govern free speech online, it's not just the famous who are finding trouble.

Consider the case of Amanda Bonnen and her former landlord. Bonnen, an Illinois resident, is accused of using Twitter to tell another user: "Who said sleeping in a moldy apartment was bad for you? Horizon Realty thinks it's okay."

Horizon Group Management LLC, the company that owned the apartment in question, sued Bonnen for libel over the alleged tweet. Horizon is seeking $50,000 in damages.

Legal experts say such Internet-related cases are being watched closely because they confront new and unaddressed areas of American law.

For example, how should a libel case be handled when it comes to social media? How can society balance accountability with free speech? And if information -- from private thoughts to public data -- is so readily available, how do we define what constitutes privacy?

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/11/17/l...ogy/index.html ]]> Internet Legal Issues Natural Elements http://www.v7n.com/forums/legal-issues/156999-can-law-keep-up-technology.html http://www.v7n.com/forums/legal-issues/155632-i-have-copyright-symbol-my-site.html Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:48:57 GMT ... but don't own any copyrights. Is this ok? Or shall I get rid of it? I'm worried.

Can I just leave it there to scare people from copying or is this illegal?

LIYD ]]> Internet Legal Issues liydjw3 http://www.v7n.com/forums/legal-issues/155632-i-have-copyright-symbol-my-site.html http://www.v7n.com/forums/legal-issues/155631-i-have-small-online-business-should-i-copyright.html Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:47:21 GMT I have a small online business. My question is that I have a business name, logos, pictures etc,... I have a small online business. My question is that I have a business name, logos, pictures etc, should I copyright these? And if I do decide to copyright these, how much will it set me back? I'm from the UK. ]]> Internet Legal Issues liydjw3 http://www.v7n.com/forums/legal-issues/155631-i-have-small-online-business-should-i-copyright.html http://www.v7n.com/forums/legal-issues/155512-software-copyrighting.html Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:17:03 GMT I think this article will clear up a lot of questions people ask here. Please take your time... I think this article will clear up a lot of questions people ask here. Please take your time reading it.

Software copyright is the relatively recent extension of copyright law to machine-readable software. While many of the legal principles and policy debates concerning software copyright have close parallels in other domains of copyright law, there are a number of distinctive issues that arise with software. This article will primarily focus on topics peculiar to software.

Software copyright is commonly used by proprietary software companies to prevent the unauthorized copying of their software. Open source licenses also rely on copyright law to enforce their terms. For instance, copyleft licenses impose a duty on licensees to share their modifications to the copylefted work under some circumstances. No such duty would apply had the software in question been in the public domain.

United States

In the United States, computer programs are literary works, under the definition in the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 101.

Just as with other works, copyright for computer programs prohibits not only literal copying, but also copying of "nonliteral elements", such as program structure and design. These non-literal aspects, however, can be protected only "to the extent that they incorporate authorship in programmer's expression of original ideas, as distinguished from the ideas themselves." In Computer Associates vs Altai, the Second Circuit proposed the Abstraction-Filtration-Comparison test for identifying these protected elements. This test attempts to distinguish copyrightable aspects of a program from the purely utilitarian and the public domain.

The graphics, sounds, and appearance of a computer program also may be protected as an audiovisual work; as a result, a program can infringe even if no code was copied. The set of operations available through the interface is not copyrightable in the United States under Lotus v. Borland, but it can be protected with a utility patent. In Apple v. Microsoft, the courts established that a look and feel copyright claim must demonstrate that specific elements of a user interface infringe on another work. A program's particular combination of user interface elements is not copyrightable.


History

Historically, computer programs were not effectively protected by copyrights because computer programs were not viewed as a fixed, tangible object: object code was viewed as a utilitarian good produced from source code rather than as a creative work. Due to lack of precedent, this outcome was reached while deciding how to handle copyright of computer programs. The Copyright Office attempted to classify computer programs by drawing an analog: the blueprints of a bridge and the resulting bridge compared to the source code of a program and the resulting executable object code. This analogy caused the Copyright Office to issue copyright certificates under its "Rule of Doubt".

In 1974, the Commission on New Technological Uses of Copyrighted Works (CONTU) was established. CONTU decided that "computer programs, to the extent that they embody an author's original creation , are proper subject matter of copyright." In 1980, congress added the definition of "computer program" to 17 U.S.C. § 101 and amended 17 U.S.C. § 117 to allow the owner of the program to make another copy or adaptation for use on a computer.

This legislation, plus court decisions such as Apple v Franklin clarified that the Copyright Act gave computer programs the copyright status of literary works. Many companies began to claim that they "licensed" but did not sell their products, in order to avoid the transfer of rights to the end user via the doctrine of first sale (see Step-Saver Data Systems, Inc. v. Wyse Technology). These software license agreements are often labeled as end-user license agreements (EULAs).

In 1998, Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) which criminalizes evasion of copy protection (with certain exceptions), destruction or mismanagement of copyright management information, and a clause to except ISPs from liability of infringement if one of their subscribers infringe. In addition, the DMCA extends protection to those who copy a program for maintenance, repair or backup as long as these copies are "destroyed in the event that continued possession of the computer program should cease to be rightful."17 U.S.C. § 117

EULAs and Rights of End users

The Copyright Act expressly permits copies of a work to be made in some circumstances, even without the authorization of the copyright holder. In particular, "owners of copies" may make additional copies for archival purposes, "as an essential step in the utilization of the computer program", or for maintenance purposes. Furthermore, "owners of copies" have the right to resell their copies, under the first sale doctrine and 17 U.S.C. § 109.

These rights only apply to "owners of copies." Most software vendors claim that their products are "licensed, not sold", thus sidestepping 17 U.S.C. § 117. American courts have taken varying approaches when confronted with these software license agreements. In MAI Systems Corp. v. Peak Computer, Inc., Triad Systems Corp. v. Southeastern Express Co., and Microsoft v Harmony, various Federal courts held that "licensed, not sold" language in an EULA was effective. Other courts have held that "no bright-line rule distinguishes mere licenses from sales...The label placed on a transaction is not determinative". The Ninth Circuit took a similar view (in the specialized context of bankruptcy) in Microsoft v DAK.

Fair Use
Fair use is a defense to an allegation of copyright infringement under section 107 of the Copyright Act. This section describes some of the uses of copyrighted software that courts have held to be fair. In Galoob v. Nintendo, the 9th Circuit held that modification of copyright software for personal use was fair. In Sega v. Accolade, the 9th Circuit held that making copies in the course of reverse engineering is a fair use, when it is the only way to get access to the "ideas and functional elements" in the copyrighted code, and when "there is a legitimate reason for seeking such access".

India

Software is copyrightable in India, but enforcement is very difficult.

Canada

In Canada software is protected as a literary work under the Copyright Act of Canada. Copyright is acquired automatically when an original work is generated, the creator is not required to register or mark the work with the copyright symbol in order to be protected. The rights holder is granted: the exclusive right of reproduction, the right to rent the software, the right to restrain others from renting the software and the right to assign or license the copyright to others. Exceptions to these rights are set out by the terms of Fair Dealing, these exempt users from copyright liability covering usage and reproduction when performed for private study, criticism or research. Changes to the Copyright Act in regards to digital copyright were debated in the Canadian Parliament in 2008. Bill C-61 proposed alterations of the breadth and depth of exemptions for uses such as personal back-ups, reverse engineering and security testing.

Copyleft

A copyleft is a type of copyright license that allows redistributing the work (with or without changes) on condition that recipients are also granted these rights.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_copyright ]]> Internet Legal Issues CyberWizard http://www.v7n.com/forums/legal-issues/155512-software-copyrighting.html http://www.v7n.com/forums/legal-issues/154792-net-neutrality-canada.html Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:27:28 GMT Hi folks.

My first real post on the forum, but there's an issue I'd like to get opinions on. I'm not sure how much (if at all) Canadian news permeate beyond our own borders. Recently, the CRTC (among other things, internet regulatory commission) has passed legislation allowing ISPs to use packet shaping / throttling.

They've added some basic stipulations - the ISPs must inform their subscribers how and when they're controlling traffic, but the rest is at their discretion.

The spokesman for the CRTC declared proudly that this is the first comprehensive system of its kind to allow better management of internet data.

Are the minor controls put in place enough? Is this an indication of the way the net's headed?

Direct link to Reuter's article: http://ca.reuters.com/article/entert...59L1OE20091022 ]]> Internet Legal Issues Belgoran http://www.v7n.com/forums/legal-issues/154792-net-neutrality-canada.html http://www.v7n.com/forums/legal-issues/154788-selling-buying-replica-things-legal.html Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:04:22 GMT I am thinkin did it is legal to sell or even buy replica things, like handbags, wathces and similar... I am thinkin did it is legal to sell or even buy replica things, like handbags, wathces and similar things?
I saw quite many websites, but how about laws? ]]> Internet Legal Issues host1plus http://www.v7n.com/forums/legal-issues/154788-selling-buying-replica-things-legal.html http://www.v7n.com/forums/legal-issues/154394-legality-review-commentary-site.html Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:56:00 GMT I just got a video game review/commentary website up and running. I was wondering if I should be... I just got a video game review/commentary website up and running. I was wondering if I should be wary of any legal issues. I am under the impression that what I am doing isn't illegal because reviews are "educational" in nature and therefor don't require permission from game developers/publishers. Am I right in thinking this?

I am also a little curious about turning it into an actual business. For example, to get press passes to conventions you need to provide a "Business License for Media Outlet." How does one become a real media outlet? Or am I misinterpreting the term? Is a media outlet anything that provides journalistic information? Or is it a business term?

I have a lot of questions, and I really don't know where to start. I've tried searching the subject, but I guess I don't even know what I'm looking for and my results are current useless. I don't expect anyone here to have all of the answers, but if someone could point me to someone/thing to get me on the right track I'd appreciate that.

Thanks,
Mike ]]> Internet Legal Issues Gammaray http://www.v7n.com/forums/legal-issues/154394-legality-review-commentary-site.html http://www.v7n.com/forums/legal-issues/153856-privacy-net-owner-sues-microsoft-cisco-comcast-truste.html Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:57:20 GMT The owner of Privacy.net and Network-Tools.com, Russ Smith, has filed a lawsuit against Microsoft,... The owner of Privacy.net and Network-Tools.com, Russ Smith, has filed a lawsuit against Microsoft, Cisco, Comcast and TRUSTe. Current activities in the case.

The lawsuit claims that Comcast, Microsoft, and Cisco collected information about Smith’s IP addresses and either put them on a “blacklist” or gave them a poor “Reputation Score.” Comcast even blocked his communication link with a mail server he operates outside the Comcast network. The suit claims that in order to collect this information in the first place Comcast, Cisco and Microsoft violated eavesdropping laws. The suit goes on to claim that Comcast, Microsoft, and Cisco failed to adhere to their privacy policies. When Smith tried to use the privacy policies of Comcast, Microsoft, and Cisco to correct the spammer accusations the companies balked. Comcast even told him it didn’t matter what the privacy policy said, he wasn’t getting the information. He filed complaints with the TRUSTe organization that verifies the privacy policies of Microsoft and Comcast but that did no good.

Previous lawsuits against these “blacklists” have been brought by commercial e-mailers against organizations such as Spamhaus. In this case the accused is not a commercial e-mail, not a spammer, and has no mailing lists of any sort. The accused has even made presentations at the Federal Trade Commission against spammers and testified at the first “Spam Summit” more than 10 years ago.

Microsoft FrontBridge

Microsoft is compiling several IP Address blacklists called “blacklist.zap” via their FrontBridge services. The lists are meant to be used to block e-mail from sources of spam. However, there are many Internet postings that indicate Frontbridge lists many small mail servers. Some complaints came from law firms who need to operate their own mail servers for security and archiving. Many claim they had trouble finding out why they were on the blacklists and how to get removed.

Microsoft told Smith it had logs of the TO: and FROM: fields of e-mails he sent. (Microsoft claims not to have entire e-mails but Internet postings claimed that Microsoft does actually archive entire e-mails and sometimes releases them when pressed). Microsoft never released any of the information to Smith and did not allow him to correct it. A few weeks later Microsoft blacklisted the same IP address again.

A TRUSTe “Watchdog” complaint was filed to enforce the Microsoft privacy policy. TRUSTe claimed the Microsoft privacy policy does not apply by stating: We have determined that the matter does not fall within the scope of our program. We are therefore unable to address your complaint. The link to the main Microsoft privacy policy is for the web site's marketing program…” However, Microsoft claims to the Federal Trade Commission: “[Microsoft Corporation] abides by the standards set forth in … the TRUSTe Privacy Program”

Microsoft has been sued alleging eavesdropping, privacy policy fraud, breach of contract, and defamation. Microsoft is now trying to claim immunity under the Communications Decency Act but they have never produced any “objectionable material.” TRUSTe is being sued claiming they did not reasonably enforce their standards or provide reasonable complaint adjudication.

Comcast

In a separate incident Comcast blocked the complainant from communicating with the e-mail server he operates outside the Comcast network (Port 25 blocking). Comcast said they detected large amounts of e-mail coming from Smith’s home computer. Comcast told Smith that they would not tell him why he was blocked … but if he did it again his account would be permanently blocked. Comcast, at the same time, claims their network management I “protocol agnostic” to please the FCC and their Network Neutrality policy. Comcast will not explain how “protocol agnostic” techniques can result in specific port blocking. Comcast also told Smith that if he signed up for a more expensive business account there would be no blocking. Comcast has not explained how paying for a higher level of service would result in security issues disappearing. Comcast later claimed the entire problem was caused by Cisco who gave the IP address a poor “Reputation Score.” Cisco then blamed SpamHaus.

Comcast has been sued alleging eavesdropping, fraud, and breach of contract. TRUSTe is being sued claiming they did not reasonably enforce their standards or provide reasonable complaint adjudication. As of October 6, 2009 Comcast changed their online privacy policy so that Internet subscribers are not longer covered by the TRUSTe-endorsed Comcast.NET policy, that policy has been moved to the Comcast.COM privacy policy which is not endorsed by TRUSTe. Most people do not realize TRUSTe only licenses specific web sites and not entire companies.

Cisco IronPort/Senderbase

When Smith contacted Cisco about the matter they told him they placed monitoring equipment in thousands of networks across the world. Their Senderbase.org site claims to collect “data on more than 25 percent of the world's email traffic” and SenderBase can be used like a "credit reporting service" for email. Smith claims that Cisco, like any other credit reporting agency, must provide the underlying data for the “Reputation Score” so errors may be corrected. Cisco said they would provide the information but they never did.

Cisco has been sued alleging eavesdropping, fraud, and breach of contract.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Current activities in the case

-Plaintiff asks the court to accept an Amended Complaint HTML | .doc Version | Exhibits A-R | Exhibits S – MM | Exhibits NN – CCC

-Defendants has asked for dismissal of all counts. Discovery is suspended until this motion is decided.

-Plaintiff has asked the court to remand all the non-federal issues back to state court.

-Microsoft introduces Communications Decency Act immunity defense argument at status conference. However, no "objectionable material" has ever been produced. Anti-competitive issues have also been raised by Smith since those who pay Microsoft for Frontbridge services apparently don't get blocked.


Link to article: http://lawsuit.privacy.net/

More info: http://privacy.net/ ]]> Internet Legal Issues CyberWizard http://www.v7n.com/forums/legal-issues/153856-privacy-net-owner-sues-microsoft-cisco-comcast-truste.html http://www.v7n.com/forums/legal-issues/153525-how-patent-copyright-tradermark-internet-website-name.html Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:15:55 GMT I have an internet website. It is a great idea along the lines of a 99cent store. But technology... I have an internet website. It is a great idea along the lines of a 99cent store. But technology not retail. Anyways i have not put it live because I am afraid someone will steal my idea and do it bigger and better.

How do I obtain a patent/copyright/trademark? Which do I need? Am I patenting the name/or idea. Also what is the cost associated with this. Finally do I incorporate the business now or can I do it after the patent if the business does indeed take off? ]]> Internet Legal Issues rookiethomas http://www.v7n.com/forums/legal-issues/153525-how-patent-copyright-tradermark-internet-website-name.html http://www.v7n.com/forums/legal-issues/153473-google-dmca.html Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:31:13 GMT I am wondering if it would be a great idea if Google added a DMCA function on the Google webmaster... I am wondering if it would be a great idea if Google added a DMCA function on the Google webmaster tools.

What do you think of that? ]]> Internet Legal Issues Natural Elements http://www.v7n.com/forums/legal-issues/153473-google-dmca.html http://www.v7n.com/forums/legal-issues/153471-want-start-new-website.html Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:07:32 GMT I want to start my site about Handwriting analysis and Signature analysis of celebrities. I got... I want to start my site about Handwriting analysis and Signature analysis of celebrities. I got many samples of handwritings and signatures are easy to achieve. Can i start the site and what are the supposed legal issues i may face. Please help me in my questions. ]]> Internet Legal Issues Euk_jason http://www.v7n.com/forums/legal-issues/153471-want-start-new-website.html